The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1887-02-23
Temperance.
Young Men. Read Thisi

one OF the most prominent educators
in the land recently delivered lecture
to young men, the subject being:
"Where Do You Spend Your Even
ings?" 1t is so sensible, striking and
full of good advice that we give it
to our readers "boiled down. He
says: elf / were a merchant, and a
young man applied TO me for employ
ment in any responsible position, one
of the first questions that | would ask
him would be: Where do YOU spend
your evenings?' The answer to that
question would go very far toward de-
termining whether he was the man to
be trusted or not. In the rural regions
evening commonly signifies quiet
Preside after the labors of the shop or
farm. 1t is of young men in the cities
and the large towns that am thinking
now. Some of them are living under
parental roof; tens of thousands are in
boarding-houses; legions of them are
on the road and lodging in hotels. For
those who still reside at home the pa
rents are still responsible. The primal
duty of every father and mother is to
make home attractive to the boys and
girls. When a boy begins to dislike
his home and seeks to escape from it
he has very often reached the first
milestone on the road to the bad:'
and for this dislike his parents NAV be
more than half responsible. entreat
every father and mother TO see to two
things. The one is that their own
dwelling be made just as attractive as
possible, and bright, open fire will
pay tenfold more than ii costs as
means of grace to your family The
other is, be careful how you trust your
boy with a night-key. If you know
where he is, very well; if you hand
him night-key, and do not know or
care whittier he goes with it, you may
find out one of these days to your sor-
row. A sagacious father said to me
yesterday: The anchorage of my chill
dren has always been bright, happy
home That man has never seen one
of his sons wrecked on the rocks of
ruin. Thousands of young men have
no home except boarning house.
" But however young man may be
situated, the evening hours bring to
him certain temptations and perils.
The days work is over and nature
Graves recreation. No one understands
this natural necessity better than the
devil, and he makes the most of it.
The evening is the harvest-time: then
he opens his numberless doorways of |
temptation. Then he lights up his |
places of enchantment-bring up his |
dice-boXes, and cards, and champagne
bottles, and billiard-tables, and roulette |
boards; then he tunes his horns and |
violins, and filings wide open his Grim
soned and chandeiered gateways to
sensual indulgence. 1t is in the black |
and dark night that the shameless
wanton prowls the street in quest of
the young man void of understand
ing So successful are these various |
bats of the tempter that if all the
young men who have spent any one
evening in dangerous places could be
mustered the next morning in mass
meeting its size would be appalling,
and the composition of it would strike |
many parental eye with horror At
ter thirty-One years of close observa- |
ton of city life, / am not surprised that |
so many mothers son is led astray; | |
only wonder that so many escape de-
structiOn.
"The best antidote to all dangerous
places and pleasures is to find safe ones.
Where and what are they? A whole |
some home, of course, stands first. AS |
long as you are tethered there you may
live in happy ignorance of manifold |
things which a pure heart should not |
wish to know; for blessed is the youth
who does not know too much. No
matter how plain or cheap your board
ing quarters may be, my young friend,
if you have plenty of books you may
spend many an evening in company fit
for king. Shun every book that stirs
lewd passion, or that shakes your faith
in your mothers God, as you would
shun rattlesnake. Don't ask to be
everlastingly amused; it is the mark of
a baby mind when young man cares
for nothing but fun and frolic.
s. AS for the whole matter of recrea-
tions, j will give you one wholesome
rule. Every amusement or recreation
which makes the body healthier, the
mind stronger, the heart purer, is right.
Let the others alone. Whatever you
think of with twinge of conscience oran
ugly taste in your memory next morn
ing, never do. 1t is good rule never
to spend an evening in such manner
that you cannot pray with a clean con-
science when you 90 to bed.
" pity the young man who is with
out acquaintance among the other sex.
Spare no pains to put one or more fe-
male friendships between you and the
of the 'devil and his !
angels i am inclined to favor early
attachments and engagements; for the
society of pure girl, evening after
evening, has saved many young man
from perdition. Put yourself also into
the circle of some Christian church. Its
meetings and social gatherings will an
Choir you from drifting away from your
mothers church and from the faith of
your childhood. Finally, remember,
my young friend, that what you earn
during the day goes into your pocket;
but what you earn during the evening
hours and on the Sabbath goes into
your haracter!o-Selected